We were treated surprisingly well, resting and eating our fill in the room that we were given. For a moment, it was easy to forget that I would face a deadly challenge the next day. The first thing that I wanted to make sure of was that my parents were, in fact, being kept in the colony and that Demarin was going to be true to his word. I didn't have long to wait because Demarin contacted us on the same afternoon that we arrived. Our screen communicator began to light up, indicating that someone was trying to speak with us. I switched it on. Demarin's hideous face appeared, wearing the same insipid grin.

“So, I see that you have arrived. Tomorrow, we shall face off in a duel to the death!”

“We will once my parents are released!” I insisted.

Demarin laughed a deep, full-throated laugh. “Not to worry. As soon as you arrive at the stadium, my men will release your parents.”

“They must be delivered safely to Yahn’s care. He will be with me at the stadium. Only then will I go forward with the duel.”

"Yes, of course. I look forward to getting rid of you once and for all. I can finish what should have been completed back on Sarceastium, but no matter, I am a patient Sarceastian." He switched off his screen communicator.

I was unable to sleep very well that night in anticipation of the duel but finally I managed to get some rest in the early hours of the morning. Once I woke up, Yahn did the best he could to encourage me and wished me the best.

“Just remember everything you learned during your training. If you handle yourself half as well as you did with me and the computer simulation, it will be hard for him to defeat you!” Yahn encouraged.

“With you cheering me on, I know I can’t fail!” I said with a smile, though secretly I doubted I had what it took to defeat Demarin.

We arrived at the stadium accompanied by Sarceastian guards. It was quite ironic receiving such treatment from guards that we had so recently attacked, invading in Sarceastium. Once we got to our quarters, we looked out on the crowd that was seated at the stadium. It was completely packed with spectators. There was a small training area, water and food, and a viewing area closed in with glass that afforded us views of the playing field and the crowd. All around our area, there were mostly humans with a few other aliens sprinkled throughout. On the opposite side, Demarin’s side, there was nothing but Sarceastians, some of them were yelling out my name. I soon realized that on one side of the Sarceastian area, there were the commoners and on the other, there were the more well off Sarceastians who were cheering for Demarin.

“It seems that word has spread to common Sarceastians on this colony about our efforts to liberate them,” Yahn expressed. “You have fans on both sides.”

I did not respond. I was more preoccupied with the challenges that awaited me. What seemed odd was that the playing field was completely empty. There was a large, field-like expanse, but no weapons or obstacle courses.

“I don’t understand- it’s just an empty field,” I said.

“They will program specific conditions for you to face once you are in the playing field. There are programmers up there, in the main tower on Demarin’s side. I once had a cousin who was captured by humans and forced to duel in this place. I heard that he didn’t make it through alive, but you, my dear will make it!” Yahn stated, kissing my cheek and clutching my hand tightly.

I went into the training room and pushed the button on my communication screen. Demarin immediately appeared and I could clearly see my frightened parents standing behind him with Sarceastian guards on either side of them. They looked to be unharmed.

"Well, Demarin as you can clearly see, I am ready. I need you to bring my parents to me this instant before this duel begins!" I demanded.

"As you can see, they are completely unspoiled. I will send them your way right now. I look forward to a rewarding duel," he said with a sly grin. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. A Sarceastian guard appeared with my parents behind him .They ran inside and I immediately hugged my poor mother. She was shaking with fear and the tears streamed out of her as she looked upon me. My father came over and hugged me as well.

“Did they treat you alright?” I asked.

“Yes, we were fed and well taken care of. I can’t let you go through with this duel, Jessie,” my mother pleaded.

“Mother, I have to. Otherwise, those guards will come and take you away and I will never see you again,” I insisted.

“Jessie, if you are sure that you must go through with this, I wish you all the best,” father said.

“She has trained for a month. I wouldn’t want to go up against her, that’s for sure,” Yahn said, as he smiled at them. A second later, the announcer began to discuss the duel and asked the participants to approach their gates.

"I have to go. Just know that no matter what happens, I love you both, and you too, my dear," I said, kissing my parents and then Yahn. Yahn walked with me to the gate that opened onto the playing field. I was wearing a red, white and blue suit that had been provided to me with pads on my elbows, knees and a helmet. There was also a note left behind for me:

On behalf of your sponsors, we wish you the best of luck, Jessie. We are certain that you will be victorious like you have been with every endeavor. Hope that you like your suit.

"Wow, I have sponsors!" I said excitedly to Yahn.

"Yes, contestants that have sponsors get deluxe outfits and accommodations," Yahn answered.

“That would explain the nice room we have.”

“There are a lot of creatures that are rooting for you today,” Yahn said.

“Alright, it is now time for the duel to commence! All participants to the starting gate. The first mission is to survive the obstacle course in order to obtain your choice of weapons. Once you have obtained the weapon of your choice, the duel will begin,” an announcer said.

“You will be victorious. No need to worry, my love,” Yahn whispered in my ear. We shared a kiss and I went to the gate.

"The gates will open in one minute. Participants will make their way westward through the playing field towards the weapons area!" the announcer said. A screen popped up to my right, showing me the direction to go once I was on the playing field. Then, right before my eyes, the playing field took shape. There was a large pit that opened up in the ground and several snake-like creatures that could be seen writhing in it. Several small stepping stones appeared and then disappeared in the pit. I could not see what was on the other side.

The gate opened and the crowd began to cheer. I stopped at the edge of the pit and saw Demarin off to my right, some distance away. He was already making his way across the pit. I jumped onto one of the stones and a large creature came up to bite my ankles. I jumped to the next stone just in time, but this stone quickly disappeared. I managed to make it to the next stone just in the nick of time before it also disappeared. I saw the other side of the pit come into view. I had to jump a distance of nearly twenty feet, hanging onto the edge of the pit. I could hear slithering and hissing below me as I pulled myself up at its edge. What was next looked like a clear path to the weapons area which was high on a platform, but quickly I saw that the path was not as clear as I originally thought. Huge spikes began to come up from the ground here and there. I had to move quickly to avoid being impaled by one. One spike even tore through the back of my uniform, but I made it past this area. I looked over to my right and saw that I was slightly ahead of Demarin.

Now the platform was in view, but I had to climb a tall ladder to reach it. As I climbed, huge insect-like creatures began to swoop at me, attempting to sting me with their enormous stingers. They were red and brown and resembled gigantic wasps. At one point I fell as I lost my footing trying to avoid being stung, but I managed to catch the power rungs of the ladder. The crowd responded with cheers as I recovered and continued to move up the ladder. I looked over at the ladder to my right and saw that Demarin and I were now neck and neck, but Demarin was moving very quickly. I tried my best to beat him, but he managed to get to the top of the weapons platform before I did. As I reached the platform, I saw that he had chosen an energy beam and had moved off to the dueling area that was connected to the weapons platform, high above the crowd. I quickly chose an energy deflector, which I felt was the best weapon of choice under the circumstances.

“As you can see both participants have survived the obstacle course and are ready to duel. Demarin has chosen an energy beam and Jessie has chosen an energy deflector! What a great contest this should prove to be!” The announcer yelled.

I moved into position opposite Demarin and glared at him. Immediately, he came at me, sending energy beams in my direction. I jumped over two of them and managed to shoot another two back at him. He jumped high into the air and the energy beams missed him. He began to send several beams at me in rapid succession. At first, I managed to deflect all of them. I even managed to knock him to the ground with one of them.

"Ahh!" he yelled, clutching his arm. I came closer as the crowd went wild. Demarin went mad and began shooting beams at me one after the other as quickly as he could. I caught them with the deflector, and sent them back his way. He dodged each one of them. Clearly, anger motivated Demarin. The beams he shot, were threatening to overwhelm what my deflector could take. It began to beep and light up, warning me that it was being overpowered. I wondered if my choice of weaponry had been the right one. Finally, the deflector flew backwards out of my hands due to the fact that the energy was too much for it. I ran for the weapon, but Demarin kept me from reaching it by sending lots of beams between me and the deflector. One of the beams was so close that it knocked me to the ground. Demarin took this opportunity to run in between me and the deflector, blocking my way. The referee had been standing on the sidelines, but now he was over beside me yelling.

“She is unarmed! It is illegal to vest one’s opponent when they are unarmed!” the referee shouted.